DC FanDome 2021 Highlights

harley-quinn-season-3-sizzle-reel-dc-fandome — WB/DC

The 2021 DC FanDome event brought a lot to the table in the form of teasers and behind-the-scenes featurettes for a massive slate of shows, films, video games and, of course, comics that are set to release in the next few years of the brand’s future. Warner Bros. and DC really stepped up their game from their inaugural event last year and gave fans a borderline Comic Con virtual experience. With so many sneak peaks and exclusives to sift through, here’s some of the highlights that caught our attention.

The Batman

We finally got a second trailer for Matt Reeves’ The Batman and it sure was dark, both visually and tonally. With Robert Pattinson showing off his fighting skills and his ability to stare into the camera sadly, we also got a better look at the villains of the film: Colin Farrell is unrecognizable as The Penguin, we briefly saw Paul Dano’s take on The Riddler, also got a lot more Catwoman, played by Zoe Kravitz as well as a quick look at Andy Serkis’ Alfred. The film looks like a much grittier and darker take on Batman and the role of The Riddler looks like more of a modern-day serial killer than the goofy version that fans have learned to love over the years. We’ll find out when the film released on March 4^th of next year.

Harley Quinn Season 3

With James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad making both Harley Quinn and King Shark the characters carrying the DC brand upon their backs for the near future, fans of the first two seasons are clamoring for new episodes of The Harley Quinn Show, recently saved from cancellation thanks to a move from DC Universe to HBO MAX. The self aware comedy that subverts the lore of the justice league and goes out of its way to smash its patriarchal foundations to bits ended on a romantic The End screen in season 2 but got quickly renewed for Season 3. Harley introduces a sizzle reel lamenting the overworked and exhaustive man hours of the animation industry, while the reel itself is made up of simplistic animatics to let people know the episodes are hard are work being made, but not close to done yet, except somehow for Kite Man, he’s skating by just fine.

Black Adam

After a very vague tease of the film at last year’s FanDome, fans got an exclusive behind the scenes featurette which included the first clip from the film. Dwayne Johnson, over a decade after stating his being determined to star as the character has made it very clear that Black Adam is the role that he was born to play and that this film is his passion project. Along with the clip from the film, which shows the first appearance of titular character, we also were treated to cast introductions from the cast themselves. Pierce Brosnan is playing the role of Dr. Fate, Aldis Hall is Hawkman, Maxine Hunkell as Cyclone and Noah Centineo is Atom Smasher. The film is currently in post-production and is expected in theaters July 29^th of next year.

Peacemaker

With the success of this year’s The Suicide Squad from James Gunn, the first trailer for the spinoff series Peacemakerstarring John Cena has arrived. The trailer shows off Cena’s character Peacemaker out on his own after narrowly escaping death following the events of the film. He’s then approached by agents tasked with putting him to work. With his trusty pet eagle, fantastically goofy costume, and his surprising amount of combat skills, this series looks like one hell of a ride. The cast looks excellent as well with actors like Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and Danielle Brooks (Orange Is the New Black) to name a few. From what the trailer shows, Peacemaker looks like a fun and action-packed ride that will be a great pick for fans of Peacemaker from The Suicide Squad. The show premieres on HBO Max January 13^th of next year.

Gotham Knights

During last year’s FanDome, fans went crazy from the first look at the new game from WB Games Montreal Gotham Knights. Following the success of their last game set in Gotham Batman: Arkham Origins, the crew at WB Games Montreal are bringing us a very different looking game following the supporting characters like Robin, Batgirl, Nightwing and Red Hood. What the trailer released this year showed the fans was that the Court of Owls was going to be the primary villains in this game, as well as some stealth and combat gameplay. On top of that, the Penguin is featured in the new trailer telling the heroes about the dangers of the Court of Owls. If this game is anything like the Arkham games that many fans have grown to love, which we haven’t seen since 2015’s Arkham Knight, this is sure to be a massive hit for WB Games Montreal. The game was delayed due to the pandemic, but is now set to release next year on PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom

When Aquaman was released in 2018, it became a tremendous hit for DC and Warner Brothers. While Jason Momoa first showed up as Arthur Curry back in 2017’s Justice League, the character truly shined in his first solo film from director James Wan (yeah that’s right, the director of Aquaman also directed Malignant). Fans have been eagerly awaiting any news about the sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and were treated to a behind the scenes featurette with an update. The film is currently being filmed and is promising to be a globe-trotting and “more mature” sequel with more crazy action sequences and gorgeous visuals. We also know that most of the cast from the original film is returning, including Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s Black Manta! The film is set to release December 16^th of next year.

Tyler Carlsen

Tyler considers himself to be a true lover of movies and the magic that goes into making them. He spends most of his free time watching and absorbing film and television. From a very young age, film was an escape and an adventure that Tyler could never get enough of. Throughout his high school years he had the honor of working on an award winning independent short film, hosting a film reviewing segment on a public access station, working at two movie theaters, and attending a film festival as a young journalist for his cousin’s local paper. He is the one person that would never turn down going to a theater or staying home and watching a movie and talking about it immediately after. Tyler’s goal in life is to one day be one of the great writers and directors of the entertainment industry like his hero Steven Spielberg.